12 April 2012
Bad weather and a "shorter" February led to a sharp decline in the number of passengers using the seven UK airports run by the BAA company.
In February 2009, BAA handled 9.0 million passengers at the airports which include Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.
This was 12.5% fewer passengers than in February 2008 which contained an extra, leap-year day.
BAA said that roughly half the decline last month could be attributed to the heavy snows and the "shorter" month.
The number of passengers using Heathrow last month fell 9.5%, with Gatwick 14.4% down and Stansted dropping 16.2%.
The number of passengers using Southampton airport in February 2009 was down 20%, with Glasgow slipping 17.4%, Edinburgh down by 11.8% and Aberdeen 16% down.
